


It Takes a Town to Raise a Child (But an Older Sibling to Teach Them to Ship)

by Agraulis_vanillae



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, Flirty Frisk, Flowey Is A Dick, Fluff, Frisk Looks up to Sans, Frisk Stays in Snowdin, Frisk has no Filter, Ghost Chara, Humor, M/M, Narrator Chara, Older Chara, Romance, Snowdin Town, Young Frisk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 17:41:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7854754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agraulis_vanillae/pseuds/Agraulis_vanillae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans convinces Frisk to stay in Snowdin after befriending Undyne. Chara haunts Frisk, but unlike Flowey, seems to enjoy having a 'younger sibling' to corrupt. Meanwhile, Flowey's tired of waiting for them to catch up and decides to mess with their favorite couple. And it's not Alphyne.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Takes a Town to Raise a Child (But an Older Sibling to Teach Them to Ship)

**Author's Note:**

> In case it's not immediately obvious-  
> '*Chara's dialogue looks like this!' Have fun!

It was difficult to tell whether or not Papyrus ever noticed the town colluding together to keep him from joining the Royal Guard. For instance, he didn't seem to be able to tell when Frisk got a stomachache after trying his 'special' spaghetti. However, he was smart enough to realize when Undyne was 'reluctant' to make friends with the small child and challenged her to befriend them. Sans might have had an idea if Papyrus was aware of the town's concern, but if he did, he kept quiet. 

Much like the skeleton brothers, the young child seemed to show up out of the blue, and simply settled down there. At the beginning, they seemed to wander into town and then wander right back out, still clutching a stick and a gooey band aid. They were the youngest human by far to fall Underground, but they had a habit of saying... strange things. Specifically, they had a disquieting repertoire of flirts that seemed to come from nowhere and were far too well thought out for their age. 

Sans had been conspicuously absent from the bar during that time, but that pattern hadn't lasted as the child had wandered back into town with a tutu and a phone full of numbers. The child simply kept surprising everyone with oddly sophisticated flirts, with the possible exception of Papyrus who'd already 'dated' them briefly and kept in contact. So, it was certain the Papyrus wasn't stupid, but he could be shockingly oblivious much to the collective frustration of the townsfolk and his friends. 

Grillby became involved in the scheme soon enough, his day having started innocently enough when Undyne barged into his bar -she never simply walks into any place- to demand ask that he hire Papyrus. Grillby stood there in silence, simply eyeing the destructive force of nature that entered his establishment with mixed feelings. It wasn't that he was opposed to the idea himself, he certainly had as good a stake as anyone to keep his boyfriend out from the front lines should another fall down, but if he answered yes she might do a victory suplex to an unsuspecting bar patron. Similarly, if he didn't answer at all, she would likely slam both fists on the counter to demand a verbal confirmation. He wasn't sure he was willing to subject the bar to that sort of abuse.

Frisk toddled in unsuspectingly, just as Grillby finally crackled, “... I'll ask him tomorrow.”

As he suspected, Undyne roared a “YESSSSS” in victory and spotted the little one as she turned around. Fortunately, it wasn't a suplex, but the poor child was wrapped up into a brutal noogie that caused Grillby to grimace sympathetically for.

Sorry kiddo, sacrifices had to be made.

~

He'd successfully 'hired' Papyrus a little later, but getting Papyrus to give up his guard post and work a full time shift with Grillby was easier said than done. Instead of giving up the opportunity to spend time with him, or leaving the puzzles and shoddily constructed station behind, Papyrus simply got up earlier to do both things. Undyne kept scheduling her lessons in his house and kitchen, the shop keep would intervene to ask him to deliver odd packages here and there, and the Librarby would ask him to deliver their books when someone checked something out. All of this, in the name of keeping Papyrus from spending too much time as sentry.

And then there's Frisk, who followed both of them with impressionable interest.

They mimicked everything they did, from attempting to hold hands with the nearest customer who was oftentimes a very amused Sans, to attempting to imitate their conversations with their childish lisp. In short, the kid was like a pantomiming echo flower. They were accidentally let in on the town's plot one day when Undyne was complaining to Grillby and Sans to 'dial it up another notch', and began acting up accordingly.

“Puhpiewus!” Frisk demanded before Papyrus could declare the end of his shift. Papyrus would lean over to indulge them, having long given up on getting them to say his name properly. 

“YES, DO YOU WANT ANOTHER HOT CHOCOLATE HUMAN?” He took away the mug with whip cream and chocolate milk dregs at the bottom of it. The child shook their head quickly before they leaned forward with their chin nestled between their chubby index finger and thumb in one of their learned poses from MTT programming.

“Is that a bone in yow pwocket?” they pointed gleefully to the flame monster with the dramatic execution of an imagined star performance. “O, awe you just happy to see Gwillby?”

Grillby looked at Sans expectantly as Papyrus screeched and flailed, scandalized. Sans held his hands up, “hey i didn't teach them that,” he chuckled, “but i'll admit it's a good one.”

“Gwillby, did you sit in sugah?” Frisk asked, again posing dramatically. “ 'cuz you got a sweet a-”

“ENOUGH OF THAT!” Papyrus shouted in embarrassed exasperation.

~

“Golly! When are you going to stop putting off the inevitable and meet with Asgore?”

Flowey's cheerful tone didn't last long. The little flower wasn't pleased at all to find that the child had all but moved into Snowdin after surviving Undyne's attempts to take their soul. Sure, they were kinda little... littler than Chara when they fell. But, why on earth were they lollygagging with Smiley Trashbag of all monsters? Worst of all, Flowey KNEW that Chara was listening in! Why wouldn't they put a stop to this?!

“...” Frisk watched dutifully as Flowey broke into a rant saying as much.

“What is it going to take for you to fight Asgore?” The golden flower's pale face took on an unsettling smile. “Resetting? Messing with the timeline? Telling Smiley Trashbag that you took the last bottle of ketchup from the fridge?”

These threats were toothless and they both knew it. It was common knowledge that Sans had an uncanny way of seeing to the heart of the matter. It was even more well known then, that Sans would just visit Grillby's when faced with eminent starvation. 

That small malevolent smile soon warped into an all-out malicious grin, “Or maybe I ought to break up Grillby and Papyrus.”

Frisk stood up suddenly, their childish face set in determination. Flowey chuckled, his voice pitched high and sweet again, “Well, THAT certainly got a rise out of you. I think I know how I'M gonna kill some time now.”

“Chawa woodn't want that! We like them!” Frisk stopped to think of something cool Sans would say. Pun, or knock knock joke? “Pollen... the world awe you gonna bweak them up anyway?”

Flowey gave them a disgusted look and just tunneled away. Frisk hung their head, their round cheeks turning a light pink in embarrassment. “Sowwy Chawa. That was a stwetch.”

The fallen child shrugged. '*You're little. Can't even say things without a lisp! You're bound to have a cruddy joke or two.'

The elder child looked off in the distance with narrowed eyes, possibly looking for a sign where Flowey could be heading to. '*It's time to get going and stop my best friend from doing something stupid. It seems likely he'll try to tell Papyrus that no one wants him the royal guard, so just don't let him go anywhere alone. Unless it's with Grillby.'

Chara wagged their eyebrows at Frisk, and Frisk mimicked it. Gently, the elder of the two told them with the power sparking between the two, '*The thought of protecting the budding romance, it fills you with determination.'

With their progress saved, Frisk brushed the hard crust of snow sticking to their pants and walked back into Snowdin to guard Papyrus.

~

“YOU'VE BEEN AROUND MUCH CLOSER ALL DAY THAN USUAL...” Papyrus frowned. That frown deepened as he opened his box of puzzle altering tools and found Frisk laying flat on the bottom of it, underneath the tools. Frisk sweated as their older counterpart facepalmed. 

'*Told you he'd look in the bottom of the bag.'

“I KNOW EVERYONE IS TRYING TO DISTRACT ME FROM MY ROYAL GUARD WORK, BUT I HONESTLY CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO ACTUALLY PREVENT ME FROM DOING MY JOB!”

Then both of the children paused to look at each other, in total shock and dismay. Flowey already beat them there! When? They'd been in his bag all morning! Frisk lisped, “Distwact?”

Papyrus pulled them out and automatically began brushing off dust and worry at some engine oil splotches on their striped shirt. “YES! AND IT'S NOT WORKING! BECAUSE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES! I CAN'T JUST TAKE A BREAK, THE PUZZLES WILL FALL INTO DISREPAIR IF I LEAVE THEM TO MY LAZY BROTHER!”

Having fixed everything he could, Papyrus finished fussing over Frisk's clothes. He looked away for a moment, flushing lightly, “BESIDES, NOW MORE THAN EVER, I HAVE TO BE A SUPER COOL BOYFRIEND AND MAKE SURE TO IMPRESS! NOT THAT I'M NOT ALWAYS IMPRESSIVE, OF COURSE! NYEH HEH HEH!”

Frisk sat there, absorbing this new bit of information as Chara held a hand to their chin and hummed thoughtfully. Of course, between Undyne and the other townsfolk, no one had been particularly subtle even by Frisk's standards. Admittedly, Grillby wasn't as easy to read as Undyne, but even his quiet requests often kept Papyrus after hours. Maybe Papyrus figured it out on his own, after all. Frisk and Chara nodded to each other. Fortunately, it seems like this could be used to their advantage!

'*What if he impressed Grillby on a date? Then they'd spend all their time with each other, he'll stay away from the door to the Ruins and Flowey won't get a chance to think of something new to ruin them!'

“What abwout a date?” Frisk echoed for Papyrus's benefit.

“A DATE? HUMAN, I CAN'T GO ON A DATE WITH YOU RIGHT NOW-” Papyrus said exasperatedly, turning to grab some tools from the kit and get working on the electrical power source that led throughout invisible maze.

“NOOOOOOO!!!” Frisk squealed, giggling hysterically. “You and Gwillby!”

“OH, SORRY HUMAN. IT'S HARD TO TELL WHAT YOU MEAN SOMETIMES,” Papyrus regarded him thoughtfully. “BUT GRILLBY'S BEEN TO MY HOUSE ALREADY. AND I'VE BEEN TO HIS! AT THIS POINT, ANY MORE DATES TO OUR HOUSES SEEMS REDUNDANT.”

'*Tell him he needs to kill that Dating Manual with fire.'

“Maybwe twy something diffwent fwom the Dating Manwal,” Frisk translated. Chara looked offended at the censorship.

“SOMETHING DIFFERENT? I DON'T KNOW HUMAN... IT SAYS SPECIFICALLY TO GO TO MY FAVORITE PLACE OR HIS!” Papyrus hemmed and hawed.

'*Ask Grillby to burn it. He'll probably do it.'

“Picnic!!!” Frisk yelled, clapping their hands together in an 'aha' moment independent of the other two babbling in their ears.

'*Picnic?'

“PICNIC?” Papyrus echoed unknowingly.

“Go on a picnic.” Frisk firmly ordered. “In Waterfwall!”

“WELL... THAT'S ACTUALLY NOT SUCH A BAD IDEA!” Papyrus responded, his features slowly graduating from thoughtful to genuine excitement. “Y-YEAH! SURROUNDED BY ECHO FLOWERS, THAT COULD ACTUALLY BE PRETTY ROMANTIC!”

Frisk gave a thumbs up. Papyrus continued re-calibrating the puzzle, but he babbled happily to Frisk who lapsed into their characteristic silence, mostly nodding and shaking their head in the right places. The early morning passed without incident, and Papyrus soon finished up testing the electric puzzle. “WOWIE! IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE HOW TIME PASSES BY WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN! ESPECIALLY PLANNING FOR YOUR SUPER SPECIAL DATE FOR YOUR BOYFRIEND WITH A PLATONIC FRIEND-

'*Still on that platonic thing, huh? I guess that happens when you flirt with a skeleton for a threesome.'

“What's a threesome?” Frisk asked them.

Papyrus was taken aback, believing they addressed him. “W-WHAT?”

“What?”

Chara rolled their eyes. '*It's when three people get together. Duh! It's in the name.'

“...”

“W-WELL IN ANY CASE, IT'S TIME FOR ME TO GO TO GRILLBY'S! HUH, NEVER THOUGHT I'D CATCH MYSELF SAYING THAT A YEAR AGO...” Papyrus mumbled, as much as he ever mumbled anything, and waved before jogging off.

Chara sighed, although they seemed impressed. '*At least you got him out of his room for once. Let's get another hot chocolate later while we strategize!'

“No, gettin' a spideh cideh.” Frisk responded stubbornly.

'*What? Nooo!'

**Author's Note:**

> More Papby fluff on the way! *throws confetti* Meanwhile, have some cute Chara and Frisk shenanigans. Shout out to UndertailSoulSex for helping me plot it out!


End file.
